A homeward look / Barry came close to signing with his pal, Mullin

San Antonio Spurs guard Brent Barry, right, and Sacramento Kings forward Peja Stojakovic of Serbia-Montenegro battle for a loose ball during the fourth quarter in San Antonio, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2004. San Antonio won 101-85. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Sports#Sports#Chronicle#11/14/2004#ALL#2star##0422450529 less

San Antonio Spurs guard Brent Barry, right, and Sacramento Kings forward Peja Stojakovic of Serbia-Montenegro battle for a loose ball during the fourth quarter in San Antonio, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2004. San ... more

Photo: ERIC GAY

Photo: ERIC GAY

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San Antonio Spurs guard Brent Barry, right, and Sacramento Kings forward Peja Stojakovic of Serbia-Montenegro battle for a loose ball during the fourth quarter in San Antonio, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2004. San Antonio won 101-85. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Sports#Sports#Chronicle#11/14/2004#ALL#2star##0422450529 less

San Antonio Spurs guard Brent Barry, right, and Sacramento Kings forward Peja Stojakovic of Serbia-Montenegro battle for a loose ball during the fourth quarter in San Antonio, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2004. San ... more

Photo: ERIC GAY

A homeward look / Barry came close to signing with his pal, Mullin

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Brent Barry greeted a visitor this week in San Antonio by asking, "How's everything back in the Bay Area?"

It's a question Barry could have answered himself if what he termed a "difficult decision" had gone in the Warriors' favor.

Barry strongly considered signing with the Warriors during the summer after spending the last five seasons with Seattle. The former De La Salle standout came close to returning home, uniting with his mentor, Warriors vice president Chris Mullin, and following dad Rick and brothers Jon and Drew as members of the Barry family to play with the franchise.

"He was definitely in the mix, I'll tell you that," Mullin said.

So were the Spurs, a team with championship aspirations and a glaring need for the guard's perimeter shooting. He converted better than 50 percent from the field in two of the last three seasons and entered this season ranked sixth among active players in 3-point percentage.

Barry chose San Antonio, and Golden State had to settle for this consolation prize:

"It was the toughest team to tell I wasn't going to be joining it," Barry said.

Mullin had a lot to do with that. The two are longtime friends and training partners. In fact, during the free-agent negotiating period in early July, Mullin and Barry talked shop while working out at a Los Angeles gym.

"I don't know how many free agents go and do that with a GM," Barry said. "I certainly appreciate his extending his hand to have a chance to go back and play at home."

Barry said the Warriors met his request for a four-year deal -- with a portion of the midlevel exception that would have been worth up to $22.5 million. (The Warriors ended up giving point guard Derek Fisher the entire exception, a six-year contract for nearly $37 million.)

The Spurs offered $21 million, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Barry, who turns 33 next month, could not put a price tag on contending for a title. He has appeared in 13 playoff games and not advanced past the first round in his nine-year career.

"Being a little bit older and knowing I'm not going to be able to play 38- 40 minutes a night and I was going to be a guy to contribute off the bench, I felt like my contributions could be maybe a little bit more important here than someplace else," Barry said before the Spurs defeated the Warriors 91-71 on Wednesday.

"I could be contributing to some wins that could be pretty big for this franchise, instead of making contributions to a team that might win 30 or 35 games and battle for the playoffs."

Nevertheless, "It was a very difficult and emotional decision for me to decide to go someplace else (other than Golden State) to play," Barry said.

He paused to consider the statement.

"Well, I won't say that. I hate that, when guys sign $50 million contracts and say, 'It was the toughest decision of my life.' I'm not going to go that far. But it was a difficult decision given the relationship that Chris and I have."

Barry is honoring that bond by wearing Mullin's No. 17 -- his "logical" second choice, with new teammate Malik Rose having the No. 31 Barry displayed in Seattle.

"Chris is one of the purest basketball players our league has ever seen, " Barry said. "For all the successes he had had on the court, to see the way he was continuing to work, and to see the way he continued to inspire his teammates to work with him, he's legendary in terms of his work ethic. He really showed me what it takes to make it in this league and to treat this job the way you're supposed to, and that's to respect it every day and work hard every day."